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Cluster
The Cluster is the Capital of the Divine Order and the League of 20,000 Planets. It is also the seat of power for the Divine Shadow. The Cluster was formed some odd thousand years ago before the start of when the essence of the Insect Civilization killed and enslaved the body of an astronaut named Rockhound, and formed the Divine Order. Overview The Cluster is a planetoid and capital of the Divine Order and the League of 20,000 Planets. The Cluster is the planet from which the protagonists Stanley Tweedle , Xev, and Kai escape in "I Worship His Shadow". The Cluster is composed of mostly silicon, and is where the Gigashadow, the last living member of the Insect Civilisation, hid himself from humanity for thousands of years. Prisoners are taken to the Cluster, where many are stripped of their flesh. Sometime prior to Gigashadow, all humans in the League of 20,000 Planets were taken to the Cluster and were fed to the Gigashadow to feed the Rebirth. According to the Divine Predecessors, His Divine Shadow may not leave the Cluster unless there is great peril. The Lexx, the most powerful destructive force in the 2 universes, was grown on the Cluster using amino acid codes hidden inside of Stanley Tweedle's tooth. On the Cluster, Lexx was fed the flesh of prisoners who had been sentenced to death. Stanley Tweedle worked as a security guard on the Cluster for about eight years. The Cluster is destroyed by the Lexx at the end of Gigashadow. Geology The cluster is a small, hollow rocky planetoid composed of mostly silicon.In the flashback of , the captain of Rockhound's survey team describes the planetoid as "Nothing but silicon" The only a single visible surface structure; a massive artificial canopy covering the entrance to the inhabited areas of the cluster, which appears to be a massive hole bored into the surface of the world. The inhabited areas are extensively built within large valleys beneath a thick cloud layer, with no visible terrain features, leaving the population to live in huge, hive-like artificial buildings with cramped sleeping quarters. Buildings include huge towering processing facilities for incoming ships, including prisoner transports, as well the huge Cobalt Stadium, used for entertainment purposes or, in the case of Thodin of the Ostral-B Pair, special trials of an important public nature. The stadium is also used to issue awards of merit to those showing exceptional loyalty to the Divine Order. Another structure of note is the large feeding platform of the Lexx, supplied by the Protein Bank, and the many correctional facilities used to carry out sentences upon citizens that have earned sufficient demerits. Given the revelations in it seems likely that the structures of the Cluster are in fact built within the gaps left between the Giga Shadow's armoured carapace and the inside of the rocky outer shell of the planet. Inhabitants Many of the Cluster's inhabitants appear to be average humans who are all either employed by the Divine Order in some fashion, or are citizen nobles. A large majority of inhabitants of the Cluster are machines, Security Drones roam the perimeters of the Cluster searching for fugitives and heretics, and 700-series robots are used for various manual labors. Notable Inhabitants: * His Divine Shadow * Divine Predecessors * Yottskry * Stanley Tweedle * Kai * 790 * The Lexx * Vlad (created on the Cluster, though not an inhabitant during the events of Lexx) Structure and Employment The structure of the Cluster follows the hierarchy of the Divine Order; with the Divine Shadow acting as the Supreme Ruler, and the Divine Order polices the planet's citizens as well as off-world people. At some point in time after being captured by mercenaries, Stanley Tweedle joined the Divine Order and was working as a Class-2 Security Guard until his following two demotions to a Class-4 Security Guard. The most common position on the Cluster seems to be filled by non-human robots acting as Sentries and Lusticon operators. Higher-ranking officers of the Divine Order serve the Divine Shadow personally, and also go off planet to capture heretics. Policies and Procedures The Cluster seems to enforce some very strict lifestyle altering commandments on all inhabitants of the Cluster, and those who have been detained as heretics. Anyone arrested for a crime is fitted into a harness and placed onto a metal slab, where they are taken to be tried and sentenced. Criminal Justice in the League of 20,000 was centered on the Cluster and the sentencing procedures on the Cluster are extremely prejudiced and very one-sided, no matter what the crime the defendant is always found guilty and is normally terminated (the act is committed right there in the line), to have the person's organs and flesh donated to the Protein Bank to feed the Lexx. The primary purpose of the Cluster, as well as the entire justice system of the League of 20,000 Planets was to provide human flesh to feed the Gigashadow (and, to a lesser extent, the Lexx, as well as creating the various cyborgs needed to operate the Cluster) and so it was not in His Divine Shadow's interest to release prisoners. in Cobalt Stadium.]] All judicial process is overseen by a set of holographic judges, first seen shortly after the prisoner transport arrives in , later passing judgement upon Thodin in the Cobalt Stadium. Another holographic figure, in the appearance of a Divine Cleric, is simultaneously presenting the ceremony for the His Shadow's youth awards of merit. This seems to suggest that a single, large system is used to provide holographic figures for all automated systems in the Cluster, capable of changing its appearance and voice as appropriate to the situation, and functioning as yet another layer of abstraction that holds the population entirely subservient to the Divine Order, with no people in a position to do anything about it. Appearances The Cluster is first seen during as a prison transport approaches and then enters the Cluster, en route to docking bay 511, manned by Security Guard Class 4 Stanley Tweedle, carrying several important prisoners including Thodin, Giggerota, and Zev. on the Cluster.]] During the events of , the entire planet has been cleansed of all human life leaving nothing alive, spare only a few clerics reanimated by protoblood droppings, as part of a secret ritual known as the Cleansing, later to be followed by the Rebirth. This performed in the temple of the Divine Order by the Divine Clerics who prepare the final Divine Predecessor for ascension on a pedestal leading into an opening above the temple. It is revealed that the Cluster itself is in fact an ancient insect and the most powerful, the Giga Shadow, and that the pedestal will return the insect essence from the last Divine Shadow, allowing the Giga Shadow to re-awaken. When this happens, the planet is destroyed as the Giga Shadow breaks apart the hollow outer shell of the world and shatters it to pieces, to emerge once more into space. It can be assumed that if the Cluster really was built across the Giga Shadow itself, then it was definitely destroyed for good after Squish devoured its brain and the Lexx destroyed it by firing on the Fractal Core causing a catastrophic explosion. In , the events leading to the Giga Shadow inhabiting the Cluster are shown, as it survives the insect war and drifts to the rocky planetoid that then becomes the Cluster. This planet is later surveyed by a team including Rockhound, who is possessed by the insect essence to become the first Divine Shadow, establishing the Divine Order and the League of 20,000 Planets. Over the millenia, the Gigashadow's body grows, presumably displacing the rocky core of the Cluster until all that remains is the insect, covered by a veneer of the original planet's rocky crust. Trivia *Groups of social insects or arachnids are collectively known as a cluster. *The TV Tropes for the Cluster are "Crapsack World", "Our Presidents are Different", and "Evil Overlord". *"The Cluster" is the nickname of Toronto's financial district (more commonly referred to as Bay Street.) ** What holds Canada together is that everyone hates Ontario. What holds Ontario together is that everyone hates Toronto. What holds Toronto together is that everyone hates Bay Street. --Anon See Also * View more images of the Cluster References Category:Planets Category:Light Zone Category:Destroyed Planets Category:Destroyed by the Lexx